Appeal for witnesses following concern for safety of woman in Liverpool city centre

Detectives have issued CCTV images for witnesses to come forward who may have seen a woman in distress in Liverpool city centre last month.

At around 3.30am on Sunday 1 December it was reported that a woman was sitting down on Fleet Street when a group of people went to help her. Detectives are appealing for people who were in the vicinity at that time to come forward with information which may assist with the investigation.

The woman was located at the time and is receiving support from our specialist officers following a report that a sexual assault took place later that day, and we have charged a man with rape.

Detective Chief Inspector Paul Parry said: “We are keen for the group of people in the CCTV images to come forward and help us with enquiries which will hopefully help understand what has happened and assist the investigation.

“We are keen to stress that the people in the images are not in any trouble and there is no suggestion that they have done anything wrong. We would like them to come forward to assist with our enquiries.

“We recognise the image is not of the best quality but think that you would be able to identify yourself if you remembered the incident on Fleet Street last month.”

If you have information on this incident please contact @MerPolCC on Twitter or ‘Merseyside Police Contact Centre’ on Facebook with reference 24001013615.

You can also call 101 or Crimestoppers, anonymously on 0800 555 111.

To report a sexual offence call 101 where you will be spoken to by specially trained officers or you can pass information to Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. 

If you’ve been affected by sexual violence of any kind, support is available through the Police and Crime Commissioner’s Victim Care Merseyside service delivered jointly by two registered charities. In Liverpool, Sefton and Wirral, support is provided by Rape and Sexual Abuse Support (RASA) Merseyside who are available on 0151 558 1801 and, in St Helens and Knowsley, by the Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre (RASASC) Cheshire and Merseyside who can be contacted on 01925 221 546 or 0330 363 0063.

Please note: 'StreetSafe' is not for reporting crime or incidents. 

If something has happened to you or someone you know (including in public spaces online) you can call us on 101 or find out what online reporting services are available at StreetSafe | Police.uk (www.police.uk).